NARRATOR:
This painting by the 17th-century artist Frans Snyders with its profusion of fruits and vegetables celebrates the bounties of his native Flanders. Contemporary viewers would have recognized that Snyders organized his composition according to where the produce grows. Beneath the table are fruits and vegetables that grow close to the ground. At the center, two luscious melons are so ripe they have burst open…. The top of the rustic table is laden with those plucked from trees and bushes. Painted with bold colors and fluid brushwork, everything exudes energy and vitality.
Seventeenth-century viewers would have appreciated other allusions too—Snyder’s reference to the five senses, for example—smell, sight and taste in the bounteous produce itself; touch, as the child lays his hand on the woman’s sleeve; and sound, in the song of the bird perched on her finger.
Wealthy landowners often commissioned kitchen pieces like this one to showcase the abundance and variety of what they grew on their estates. Usually hung in the dining room, such works were designed to delight the eye and impress the guests. Here, the expensive imported china bowls and the elegant dress of the servant girl would also have made an impression.
Still Life with Fruit and Vegetables
1625-35
Frans Snyders (Flemish, 1579-1657)
On View
Frans Snyders, a master of the Flemish Baroque still life, is renowned for his bold brushwork and monumental compositions. One of the themes of this painting, which likely depicts the larder of a fine house, is that of abundance—particularly as the idea relates to productivity and prosperity. Our first impression may be of a chaotic layering of produce—the fruits and vegetables on the table, in a bowl or basket, or on the ground. Closer inspection shows, however, in a manner that would be apparent to a 17th-century spectator, that the produce is arranged in a hierarchy reflecting value and rarity. Root vegetables are picturesquely arranged on the ground, whereas highly prized peas and asparagus are placed in the basket at right.
In this collaboration, Snyders painted the still-life elements, and his brother-in-law, the portrait painter Cornelis de Vos, painted the figures. The interaction of the boy and the woman through touch and gaze and the inclusion of live animals enhances the sense of animation. The painting certainly resonates with allusions to all five senses.
Prior to becoming part of the Norton Simon collections, this painting was one of four large market and larder scenes painted by Snyders and installed in the state dining room of the dukes of Newcastle at their estate in Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire.
Details
- Artist Name: Frans Snyders (Flemish, 1579-1657)
- Title: Still Life with Fruit and Vegetables
- Date: 1625-35
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 68-1/4 x 101 in. (173.4 x 256.5 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1973.16.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
possibly painted for Antoine Triest (1576-1657), Bishop of Bruges and later Ghent.
possibly Goldsmith”s Hall, Brussels until sold to picture dealer who took them to England by 1771.
Henry Fiennes Pelham Clinton (1720-1794), second duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, 9th earl of Lincoln, Clumber Park, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, before 1794, by inheritance to his son;
Thomas Pelham Clinton (d. 1795), 3rd duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, 10th earl of Lincoln, Clumer Park, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, by inheritance to his son;
Henry Pelham Pelham Clinton (1795-1851), 4th duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, 11th earl of Lincoln, Clumber Park, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, by inheritance to his son;
Henry Pelham, 5th duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, 12th earl of Lincoln, Clumber Park, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, by descent to;
Henry Pelham Archibald Douglas Pelham-Clinton (1864-1928), 7th duke of Newcastle, 14th earl of Lincoln, by inheritance to his nephew;
Henry Edward Hugh Pelham-Clinton-Hope, 9th duke of Newcastle, the earl of Lincoln (Christie's, London, 4 June 1937, lot 103), to;
[Polak or Pollak?].
Sir Harry Oakes (1874-1943), by descent to his wife;
Eunice, Lady Oakes, London/Oak Hall, Niagra Falls, Ontario Canada/Nassau Bahamas (Christies, Lycett Green, South Africa, 29 June 1973, lot 100, to);
[Thomas Agnew and Sons, Ltd., London, to;]
The Norton Simon Foundation.
possibly Goldsmith”s Hall, Brussels until sold to picture dealer who took them to England by 1771.
Henry Fiennes Pelham Clinton (1720-1794), second duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, 9th earl of Lincoln, Clumber Park, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, before 1794, by inheritance to his son;
Thomas Pelham Clinton (d. 1795), 3rd duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, 10th earl of Lincoln, Clumer Park, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, by inheritance to his son;
Henry Pelham Pelham Clinton (1795-1851), 4th duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, 11th earl of Lincoln, Clumber Park, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, by inheritance to his son;
Henry Pelham, 5th duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, 12th earl of Lincoln, Clumber Park, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, by descent to;
Henry Pelham Archibald Douglas Pelham-Clinton (1864-1928), 7th duke of Newcastle, 14th earl of Lincoln, by inheritance to his nephew;
Henry Edward Hugh Pelham-Clinton-Hope, 9th duke of Newcastle, the earl of Lincoln (Christie's, London, 4 June 1937, lot 103), to;
[Polak or Pollak?].
Sir Harry Oakes (1874-1943), by descent to his wife;
Eunice, Lady Oakes, London/Oak Hall, Niagra Falls, Ontario Canada/Nassau Bahamas (Christies, Lycett Green, South Africa, 29 June 1973, lot 100, to);
[Thomas Agnew and Sons, Ltd., London, to;]
The Norton Simon Foundation.
Unknown 1851
- London, British Institution, 1851 to
Unknown 1879
- Burlington House (London, England), 1879 to
All Consuming: Art and the Essence of Food
- Norton Simon Museum, 2023-04-14 to 2023-08-14
Art Treasures of the United Kingdom
- Manchester, 1857-05-20 to 1857-10-17
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- Dr. Thierry Greub, Der Platz des Bildes und der Platz des Königs: Diego Velázquez’ Las Meninas im Sommer-Arbeitszimmer Philipps IV, 2015, Rekonstruktionsschema 2 p. 452
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